What a Girl Wants
"What a Girl Wants" is the second single from Christina Aguilera's debut album, Christina Aguilera. The song was released on December 28, 1999, which was ten days after Aguilera's nineteenth birthday. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 15, 2000 for two weeks, becoming Aguilera's second number-one single. In the U.S., it became the first number-one single of the 2000s. The single peaked at number three in the UK and at number five in Australia. Often considered one of her signature songs, the single is most known for establishing Aguilera's placement in the music industry. Many critics had written off the success of her last single, "Genie in a Bottle", as a fluke; "What a Girl Wants" served to prove that Aguilera was not a one-hit wonder. The single earned her five MTV Video Music Awards nominations; Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography (Tina Landon), and also a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001. The song appears on the game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaoke_Revolution Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol]. The song's music video was directed by Diane Martel. Song information "What a Girl Wants" was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, and was produced by Roche as well. In her first anthem dedicated to appreciating gentlemen, Aguilera wants to thank a man who stood by her, and did not abandon her while she was confused and needed time to 'breathe'. He knew exactly what his girl wanted and needed. To show her appreciation for the guy in her life, Aguilera sings, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs; Whatever makes me happy and sets you free, and I'm thanking you for knowing exactly..". Unlike her previous single, "Genie in a Bottle", this song is not meant to deal with the sexual aspect of relationships, but rather the romantic and loving part of them, despite the fact that a few of the lyrics suggest otherwise (e.g. "What I want is what you got, What you got is what I want"). Besides "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful", the song is often considered to be one of her signature songs, but ironically, it almost did not become the second single. Aguilera's record company, RCA Records, had originally felt that the track "So Emotional" should become the second single. The label even promoted the song as if it were a single by having Aguilera perform the song on several occasions, such as on''TRL'' and Soul Train. Aguilera felt that was a poor choice for the next single and that she would end up as a one hit wonder if it became the next single. Originally her insecurities were brushed off by RCA, but Aguilera continued to fight. Her record company finally relented, and "What a Girl Wants" was given the go-ahead to be the next single. However, Aguilera was still not comfortable as she felt that the song did not have single potential in its current form. Instead, she decided that the song needed to be remixed and re-recorded (as the original album version of "What a Girl Wants" had been a slow jam unsuitable for pop radio at the time). When redone, the new version of "What a Girl Wants" kept much of the original melody, but showed new energy and zest as the song was now uptempo, had new lyrics, a new bridge, a Baroque-style breakdown and new powerful vocals (since the original album version had been recorded in June 1998, Aguilera's vocal strength had increased considerably). As the new version of the song was not on the original album, the album was re-released with the video version of the new version replacing the original version. For fans of Aguilera who already had the album and did not want to buy it again, the Radio Edit of the new version was also released as one of the last major releases of CD singles in the U.S. The Spanish version, "Una Mujer" (English: "A Woman"), is included on Mi Reflejo. The Smooth Mix version of the song (a slower-tempo remix similar to the album version with different (primarily major) backing chords for the first and second verses) is still regularly featured on adult contemporary radio stations today. Music video The music video was directed by Diane Martel, who also done a music video for Aguilera's previous and chart topping single "Genie in a Bottle". The video begins with Aguilera and her friends walking into an arcade-themed room, dancing for a group of guys. There are three remixed music videos (all remixes by Thunderpuss): one for the Fiesta Club Mix, one for the Dirty Club Mix and one for Dark Club Mix. Live version Aguilera has sung "What a Girl Wants" differently from the previous album and single versions since around 2002. Her most noticeable change has been on the Justified and Stripped Tour, where she changed tempo, and sings the word knew in "You're the one who always knew" regularly, but built up into whistle register and whistle register vocal acrobatics. Aguilera also sang the song in her 2006 - 2007's tour Back to Basics Tour but sang it in a reggae style with no whistle notes. Remixes A different version was used as the single version than the album version. In the video, a slightly altered version of the single version is used, which includes a classical-themed breakdown in the video and an extended ending in the video version as well. Four official remixes were released in the US on the CD maxi-single, including two each by Eddie Arroyo and Thunderpuss. Further remixes were released on international versions of the single. Chart performance After the massive success of Aguilera's number-one debut single "Genie in a Bottle", there was pressure for its follow-up to succeed, as well. "What a Girl Wants" proved to be another big hit, though not to quite the same degree as "Genie in a Bottle". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales charts for two weeks, and peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay; the single's strong sales would later assure it a gold certification. The song also topped the Billboard Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. The track was an international success, reaching number three in the UK and spending seven weeks within the top 40 and 13 weeks in the top 100. "What a Girl Wants" also entered the Top 10 in Canada, peaking at number 5. A CD maxi single release late into the song's run helped the song peak at number two on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart; unfortunately in terms of club play, the song was not as successful peaking at number eighteen on Hot Dance Club Play. There are several different versions of "What a Girl Wants" including the Adult Contemporary Mix which includes lyrics from the video version, but a track closer the original album version. Elsewhere, the single fared success within the top twenty in most countries. The single also reached number one in New Zealand, where it held that position for 5 consecutive weeks. During the week of March 13, 2000, Aguilera visited the country while the single remained at number one. "What a Girl Wants" was certified Gold in New Zealand for selling more than 7,500 units, and certified gold in Sweden. It landed at number 19 on the year-end charts in the United States and number 32 in New Zealand. Track listings US Promo CD #What a Girl Wants Edit 3:20 #What a Girl Wants Version 3:52 #What a Girl Wants Callout Hook 0:11 US 3-track Promo #What a Girl Wants Mix #Radio Edit #Callout Hook US Promo CD (Remixes) #What a Girl Wants - Fiesta Edit 3:25 #What a Girl Wants - Eddie Arroyo Dance Radio Edit 4:04 #What a Girl Wants - Eddie Arroyo Down Tempo Killer Mix 4:20 #What a Girl Wants - A Cappella 3:37 2 track US CD single #"What a Girl Wants" version - 3:20 #"We're a Miracle" US/Germany single #"What a Girl Wants version - 3:22 #"What a Girl Wants Mix - 3:30 #"Too Beautiful For Words" - 4:11 Maxi-CD #"What a Girl Wants" Fiesta Club Mix - 6:16 #"What a Girl Wants" Dirrty Club Mix - 6:36 #"What a Girl Wants" Arroyo Long Dance Mix - 8:10 #"What a Girl Wants" Arroyo Tempo Mix - 4:20 US Promo Remixes #"What a Girl Wants" 2000 Dirty Club Mix - 6:33 #"What a Girl Wants" 2000 Fiesta Club Mix - 6:13 #"What a Girl Wants" 2000 Dark Club Mix - 8:49 #"What a Girl Wants" Arroyo Long Dance Mix - 8:07 #"What a Girl Wants" Arroyo Down Tempo Killer Mix - 4:07 UK Promo CD #"What a Girl Wants" Edit 3:20 #"What a Girl Wants" Mix 3:27 UK CD1' #"What a Girl Wants" version - 3:22 #"What a Girl Wants" Mix 3:30 #"Christina Aguilera Medley ("I Turn To You", "So Emotional", "Somebody's Somebody", "Genie in a Bottle", "Come On Over") 4:55 'UK CD2 #"What a Girl Wants" version - 3:22 #"We're a Miracle" 4:09 #"What a Girl Wants" Enhancment - 4:06 Japanese Promo #What a Girl Wants 3:52 Germany Maxi-CD #"What a Girl Wants" Edit #"What a Girl Wants" Mix #"Too Beautiful for Words" Awards Charts 'Year-end charts' 'Certifications' ' ' Category:Singles Category:Songs from Christina Aguilera